We live, simultaneously, in two different worlds. Ultimately, we live in the World of Nature, a world that we did not create and the world upon which all life depends. Most immediately, we inhabit a "human world" that we create ourselves. Because our human world is the result of our own choices and actions, we can say, quite properly, that we live, most immediately, in a “political world.” In this blog, I hope to explore the interaction of these two worlds that we call home.

About Me

Gary A. Patton

I was an elected official in Santa Cruz County, California for twenty years, from 1975 to 1995. Now, I am an environmental attorney, practicing law in Santa Cruz County. If you would like to contact me, send me an email at gapatton@mac.com.

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Thursday, October 16, 2014

#290 / Something Different From A Cargo Cult

I studied "cargo cults" in my anthropology class, when I was an undergraduate student at Stanford University. Click the link just above if you'd like to see what Wikipedia has to say about them.

Somehow, out of that long ago study in the only anthropology class I ever took, the cargo cult phenomenon popped into my mind last Tuesday, as I was writing about the nature of our "free market" financial system. Belief in the "free market" system, as a way to deliver economic benefits, is a lot like a cargo cult. Believers keep waiting around for their ship to come in.

I have always loved Bob Dylan's song, which also talks about the ship coming in. The lyrics to the song are printed below. You can hear the music by clicking the title.

Dylan's not talking about any cargo cult. Do a close reading and you will see that we're going to be ON that ship, not waiting for it.

Oh the time will come up When the winds will stopAnd the breeze will cease to be breathin’Like the stillness in the wind’Fore the hurricane beginsThe hour when the ship comes in

Oh the seas will splitAnd the ship will hitAnd the sands on the shoreline will be shakingThen the tide will soundAnd the wind will poundAnd the morning will be breaking

Oh the fishes will laughAs they swim out of the pathAnd the seagulls they’ll be smilingAnd the rocks on the sandWill proudly standThe hour that the ship comes in

And the words that are usedFor to get the ship confusedWill not be understood as they’re spokenFor the chains of the seaWill have busted in the nightAnd will be buried at the bottom of the ocean

A song will liftAs the mainsail shiftsAnd the boat drifts on to the shorelineAnd the sun will respectEvery face on the deckThe hour that the ship comes in

Then the sands will rollOut a carpet of goldFor your weary toes to be a-touchin’And the ship’s wise menWill remind you once againThat the whole wide world is watchin’

Oh the foes will riseWith the sleep still in their eyesAnd they’ll jerk from their beds and think they’re dreamin’But they’ll pinch themselves and squealAnd know that it’s for realThe hour when the ship comes in

Then they’ll raise their handsSayin’ we’ll meet all your demandsBut we’ll shout from the bow your days are numberedAnd like Pharoah’s tribeThey’ll be drownded in the tideAnd like Goliath, they’ll be conquered

1 comment:

Your analogy isn't even internally consistent. These hypothetical believers in the "free market" would not "keep waiting around for their ship to come in" because such inaction is not in keeping with their beliefs. They would trade labor for wages. Duh.

In fact, economic freedom is associated with per capita income including income earned by women and the poorest 10%, life expectancy, political rights, civil liberties, and gender equality [1, 2].